Shoe polishing apparatus



' Dec. 24, 1957 T. J. KELLEY 2,817,109

SHOE POLISHING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 18, 1955 5- u l fi l. "--.f M

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To l; I v'I nverzzor SHOE POLISHING APPARATUS i Thomas J. Kelley, Chicago, Ill.

Application August 18, 1955, Serial No. 529,222

1 Claim. (Cl. 15-267) This invention relates to shoe polishing apparatus and more particularly to a pallet for releasably clamping and holding a pair of shoes to be polished in opposed reversible relation.

In polishing shoes it is advantageous to clamp the shoes as a pair to a common holder so that one shoe is completely exposed for polishing while the other is disposed in an out-oftheway or unobtrusive position, and the primary object of the present invention is to enable this to be accomplished in a relatively simple and inexpensive manner.

Another object of the present invention is to construct a pallet for holding a pair of shoes to be polished so that the pallet may `be removably mounted on a stand, clamp bracket or the like in a relatively rigid manner, so that polishing forces -may be applied to one shoe at a time and the pallet reversed after the polishing of one shoe to ex- 1 pose the other shoe for polishing.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claim and are illustrated in the accompanying drawing which, by way of illustration, shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying those principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art Without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the present invention embodied in a pallet and a stand;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the way in which the pallet is removably mounted in the stand;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating details of the clamps for the shoes;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view showing the pallet removed from the stand; and

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional View of the medial portion of a clamp.

The present invention is illustrated in the drawing as embodied in a shoe-holding pallet 10, Fig. 4, which in the present instance is adapted to be removably associated with a stand 11' as will be described. The pallet 10 includes a plate 11 of relatively narrow width having upper and lower sides, and on one side of the plate 11 an arm 12 is welded thereto in an upstanding relation for supporting a sole plate 14 for one of the shoes S-1 to be polished. Spaced from the arm 12 on the same side of the plate 11 is another upstanding arm 15, and this arm supports a heel plate 16 having a flange 16F adapted to engage the front edge of the heel of the shoe S-1 as shown in Fig. l.

The foregoing ararngement is duplicated on the opposite or lower side of the plate 11. Thus, there is a de pending arm 20 supporting a sole plate 21 and a depending arm 23 spaced therefrom supporting a heel plate 25 Unite States arent O 2,81 7,109 VPatented Dec. 24, 41957 ricc;

having a heel engaging ange 25F. The plates 21 and 25 are adapted to support the other of the pair of shoes S2;

Under the present invention, clamping structure is afforded intermediate the sole and heel supporting plates on either side of the pallet plate 11. In the present instance such clamping structure takes the form of identical toggle clamps 30-1 and 30-2 for the respective shoes S-l and S-2 as shown in Fig. 3. Thus, the clamps 30-1 and 30-2 each comprise an elongated screw 33 which is mounted in an opening in the plate 11 centered with respect to the heel and sole supporting plates, and it will be observed that these screws are arranged in openings spaced one from the other for convenient operation of the clamps 30-1 and 30-2.

Threaded on a projecting end of each -screw 33 is a clamp tightening nut 35, Fig. 3, that is adapted to tighten the corresponding clamp in a way to be explained. The ends of the screws 33 opposite the vnuts 35 are provided with heads 33H, Fig. 3, of the usual kind, and the screws in each clamp are threadedly mounted in a nut 38, Fig. 5, having pins 39 and 40 on which are pivoted a pair of toggle arms 42 and 43, Figs. 1 and 4.

The toggle arms in each of the clamps 30-1 and 30-'2 are adapted to be spread to an open position by a torsion spring mounted on one of the pins 39 and 40 in a wellknown manner.

The arms 42 and 43 of the toggle clamps include extensions 45, and such extensions are formed with inwardly extending hooks 46 adapted to engage the opposite edges of soles of the shoes S-1 and S-2 in the arch portion as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. It will be appreciated that the clamps 301 and 30-2 are merely illustrative of a wide variety of clamps to which resort may be had.

ln arranging the pair of shoes to be polished on the pallet 1t), a shoe as S-l is rst set on the sole and heel supporting plates as 14 and 16, and the hooks 46 are then engaged with the sole of the shoes as aforesaid whereupon the corresponding nut 35 is advanced along the screw 33 until the nut 35 engages the plate 11 shortening the corresponding toggle clamp. After one shoe has been firmly clamped to the pallet in this manner, the pallet is then turned and the other shoe as S-Z is firmly clamped therel0.

The pallet 10 is adapted to be supported firmly so that an adequate polishing force may be applied to the shoes. In the present instance, such a support for the pallet 10 is afforded by a shoe stand 11 which may be fabricated from any suitable material so as to include spaced apart supporting feet 50, side walls 51, a rear wall S2, and a front wall 53 aiording a relatively large storage space 55, Fig. 1, in which shoe shine equipment may be stored. The front wall 53 of the stand 11 is cut away at 57 to afford access to the equipment therein and this cut away portion also enables the lowermost one of the shoes, that is, the one that is not being polished to be disposed within the space 55.

Thus, the stand 11 is provided at the top thereof with means allording a mounting slot in which the pallet plate 11 may be removably disposed. To this end, the stand 11' is preferably provided at the front end with a pair of arms 60 and 61, Fig. 4, and these arms are inwardly bent at 62 so as to provide supporting surfaces for the ends of a pair of parallel spaced-apart arm members 65 and 66 of a U-shaped plate 69. The end wall 52 of the stand 11 is provided at the upper edge thereof with an inwardly extending ange 70, and this flange serves to support the end of the plate 69 opposite the supporting arms 60 and 61.

A like plate 72 having parallel spaced-apart arm members 73 and 74 is disposed over the plate 69 and is secured thereto by screws 75 and nuts 76. Interposed between and vertically spacing the plates 69 and 72 on the shanks on the screws 75 are spacer nuts 77, Fig. 2. The nuts 77 thus serve to space plate 72 above the plate 69 thereby alording a guide track comprising a pair of laterally spaced slots for receiving the free marginal edges of the pallet plate 11. As shown in Fig. 2, the nuts 77 are spaced from the inner edges of the arms of the plates 69 and 72 suiciently to enable marginal edges 11S, Fig. 3 of the pallet plate 11 to be slidably mounted in the aforementioned guide track, and when thus arranged the marginal edges of the pallet plate 11 are supported firmly to enable substantial polishing forces to be exerted on the uppermost one of the shoes S-l. The plate 11 is provided at the front end with a handle H. When the polishing of one shoe is completed, the handle H is grasped and the pallet removed from the supporting device as shown in Fig. 4. The pallet is then turned to reverse the shoes so that the shoe as S-2 which was lowermost is disposed uppermost, and the pallet is then reinserted in the slot of the supporting device 11 for polishing the other shoe S-Z. This of course is enabled by the lateral interveniug space between the inner edges of the plates 65-66 and 73--74, such intervening space communicating with the storage space 5S as shown in the drawing.

It will be recognized from Fig, l that the stand 11 alords a relatively rigid support for the pallet having the shoes S1 and S-2 clamped thereto, and while such constitutes a convenient means for thus supporting the pallet 10 it will be recognized that other means may be resorted to for suitably supporting marginal edge portions or the like of the pallet plate 11 in the desired relation with one shoe as S-1 uppermost in position to be polished and the other shoe as S-2 supported therebelow in an unobtrusive or out-of-the-Way position.

Hence, while I have illustrated and described the pre- 35 ferred embodiment of the invention it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claim.

I claim:

Shoe polishing apparatus comprising, a pallet for carrying a pair of shoes to be polished in a fully reversible relation and including a pallet plate having upper and lower sides, said pallet plate having free marginal edge portions, sole and heel supporting means facing in opposite directions on opposite sides of the pallet plate for simultaneously supporting the pair of shoes with one shoe disposed in an uppermost position for polishing and the other shoe disposed in an opposingly related out-of-theway lowermost position, a clamp on said plate for releasably clamping and holding the upper shoe firmly to the sole and heel supporting means therefor on the upper side of the plate, another clamp on said plate for releasably clamping and holding the lower shoe rmly to the sole and heel supporting means therefor on the lower side of the plate, and a stand for rigidly supporting the pallet plate and having a storage space therein for the lowermost shoe on the pallet plate so that polishing forces may be applied to the upper one of the shoes clamped to the pallet plate, said stand having vertically spaced upper and lower members defining elongated laterally' spaced slots, said members having opposed inner edges, said opposed inner edges of said members being spaced laterally apart to define a space therebetween communicating with said storage space, and said pallet plate being supported by said stand with said free marginal edge portions thereot` disposed slidably in said slots.

References Cited in the tile of this patent. UNITED STATES PATENTS 374,023 Watts NOV. 29, 1887 483,963 Leger Oct. 4, 1892 490,915 Melzer Jan. 31, 1893 

